As far as I know, all the music Barry wrote for King Kong is on this CD set.

I'm 99.999% certain John Barry did not come back and write new score for an extended cut.

It *may* be that Barry scored a longer cut than the final cut in the first place, but if he did all that music would have been in the same set. And I don't believe Lukas Kendall would have picked up tapes from those recording session and say, "Nah, I'm not including this, 'cos this music was only in the three hour cut and not the theatrical cut".

In fact, I'm pretty sure the only music cue in the extended cut but not the theatrical cut was the air drop sequence and we now know that cue was an unused alternate of "The Fog Bank".

By the way, there's one problem with the 3-hour cut. It kills the pace of the movie. The fight with the snake actually gets tedious it goes on so long. There's a reason why they edit movies and that 3-hour cut of King Kong is a reminder of why.

By the way, when I first saw the 1976 version of KING KONG, I thought: "Oh my God, what have they done to this classic?"

But the intervening years have been kind to this film. And deservedly so.

They didn't "remake" KING KONG, they re-imagined it. They worked in a timely environmental statement; they injected a suitable amount of slick humour; and this time they emphasized the somewhat romantic and sad side of the story.

It's a less classic 'monster'/'horror' movie than the original, but by actually creating and developing a 'relationship' between Dwan and Kong, one can argue that this is a more grown up and sympathetic film.

Max Steiner's score is a classic of the Golden Age and is the perfect 'monster' movie score. John Barry's is a classic of the Silver Age and is the perfect 'fantasy romance' movie score. They're not the same thing. They're not even trying to be.

I'd have to agree with Stephen, I think the film has aged very well. If CGI made for a great movie, then we'd be knee deep in them...& we're not. It was a good idea to make it a contempory film & not a period piece, & it's now firmly a 70's movie, 70's styles, 70's special effects, 70's music. And a very nice looking Blu-ray (all regions), but you have to buy it direct from Amazon France if you don't want to pay a lot of money for it.

Check out the reviews over at the imdb, I had no idea so many other people liked it!

In the case of the three hour TV version - I believe they used several of Barry's alternate cues for some of the new/extended scenes (which, in some cases - I'm sure the liner notes will elucidate when discussing those pieces - may have actually been written for the original, longer versions, of certain sequences), as well as re-tracking and editing certain other cues from the film, also creating artificial repeats and what-not to make it fit the new timings.

The Main Title was re-edited and used again for the establishing shot of the tanker and Kong in captivity.

I agree with Stephen's sentiments. I had heard what a "terrible" film it was, and was quite surprised when I finally saw it and found it unexpectedly engaging. It's not the original, but it doesn't seem to want to be. As has been observed, the film is practically a different genre. It has its flaws, to be sure ... but on balance, it definitely worked for me. I appreciated the satirical edge, and the ending is emotionally spot-on -- thanks in no small part to Barry!

Incidentally, the liner notes do not touch on the ways in which individual cues were tracked and edited for the film's extended TV cut. I had limited space to write; and because the added scenes exclusively borrowed from pre-existing material, I felt the subject was of minimal importance. I'm glad that people who wondered about the "Air Drop" scene now have their answer, however!

In fact, the closeup shots of Kong getting shot to pieces - if anything - quite nasty and jarring. Certainly the bloodiest ending for Kong I think I've ever seen. The ending in the WTC Plaza is a double whammy. The film will be immortalised for that alone.

In fact, the closeup shots of Kong getting shot to pieces - if anything - quite nasty and jarring. Certainly the bloodiest ending for Kong I think I've ever seen. The ending in the WTC Plaza is a double whammy. The film will be immortalised for that alone.

I've always thought that as well. I don't think I've ever watched the film with anyone without getting a flinch or a squirm at the sight of Kong getting shot to pieces. The whole impact of that scene due in no small part i think to Rick Baker's facial expressions in the monkey suit.

My fav moment is just after Kong makes the jump to the other tower after thwarting the flame-thrower crew. Jeff Bridges roots for Kong with a primeval triumphant yell, with one arm raised. Fantastic moment.

thank you for your input on the TV vs Theatrical version and the music. Yes, probably the alternates that are here in this cd were used. I haven't seen the TV version. I hope it was included in a future Bluray release.

I LOVE this film, perhaps because I saw it in my childhood and was stuck in my memory. It's one of my favourite films! I love especially the sacrifice scene with that music!! A Masterpiece!